Beethoven: Horn Quintet Op.16 / Mozart: Horn Quintet K407 / Brahms: Horn Trio Op.40

Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010 “This is a marvellous record that does the fullest justice to the art of Dennis Brain, whom Boyd Neel called 'the finest Mozart player of his generation on any instrument'. This 1957 recording of the Mozart Horn Quintet surely bears that out. Brain has warm support from the English String Quartet, particularly in the lovely slow movement, but here his playing consistently dominates the ensemble lyrically, while the closing Rondo is sheer joy. So is Marais's delectable Le Basque. James Galway has subsequently made this piece his own on record, but Brain uses it as a witty encore, without showing off. Needless to say, the performance of the Brahms Horn Trio is very fine indeed. The infinitely sad, withdrawn atmosphere of the slow movement created by Brain's gentle soliloquy is unforgettable; and the infectious hunting-horn whooping of the finale carries all before it. The recording is distanced in a resonant acoustic and isn't ideally clear, but one soon forgets this. The Dukas Villanelle is an arch-Romantic piece which all horn players feature for the want of something better, and Brain's ardour all but convinces us that it's fine music. But the highlight of the programme is the Beethoven piano and wind quintet, in which Brain shows himself the perfect chamber music partner. Without wishing to dominate, he can't help making his mark at every entry. And his colleagues join him to make a superb team. The recording is astonishingly real. The blending is so perfect, and Parry's pianism isn't only the bedrock of the performance – the playing itself is very beautiful indeed. In short, this is the performance against which all others must now be judged.”